VIRGIN East Coast has attempted to allay safety fears raised on its East Coast Mainline rail route after an alleged incident.

Last month it admitted managers were being trained to fulfil roles onboard its services in anticipation of a possible strike by the RMT rail union.

The RMT responded by accusing it of moving to a “union-busting war footing”.

Now a company whistleblower claims a so-called driver manager instructed a train to pull away from a platform before the correct signal was given.

The worker said: “It clearly shows the danger to passengers of inexperienced managers working the trains.”

It is also alleged:

  •  Train guards in charge of safety and crew leaders responsible for catering crews could see their roles merged resulting in a possible 150 job losses
  • Desk-bound managers are being “fast tracked” into frontline roles such as train guards
  • The company is using financial constraints caused by its East Coast Mainline contract as an excuse to slash wage bills.

However, a spokesman for Virgin East Coast insisted: “Safety is always the number one priority on the railway and we would never do anything which would put passengers at risk.”

Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said he was concerned that safe working practices were being eroded.

He added it was “further evidence of a conspiracy to undermine and attack” members.

Discussions have taken place between Virgin East Coast and the RMT over a number of planned changes, including possible closures of some ticket offices.

Virgin Group and transport company Stagecoach were chosen in November 2014 to operate a new eight-year East Coast franchise which started last March.

It replaced the former publicly-run service, which had returned £1bn to taxpayers and gained high customer satisfaction ratings.

Stagecoach owns 90 per cent of the venture, although all train livery contains the famous Virgin branding.

The Virgin East Coast spokesman added: “Virgin Trains is continuing to deliver on the contract signed with the Department for Transport, growing the business and improving the experience for passengers.

“We are meeting both our promises around significant investment and our commitments on premium payments to the taxpayer.”

A spokesman for the DfT said the operator was “transforming rail journeys” with more seats, services and trains and added that it was continuing to meet all of its contractual obligations.